DC Comics was founded in 1927 and, under the name National Comics, published such books as  New Fun Comics. With the publication of Detective Comics, the company later re-named itself DC Comics. DC had their first major characters when Action Comics #1 introduced Superman. Later, in  Detective Comics #27, Batman would be introduced. Over the years, major characters such as the Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and the Justice Society of America would emerge. This would later be known as the "Golden Age of Comics".

Following a major congressional investigation into the entire comic book industry in the 1950's, many titles were discontinued or toned down in violence. (In fact, many of Batman's stories took place in outer space- hardly the setting for a "Dark Knight detective"!) After the controversy subsided, DC re-introduced many of its characters (such as the Flash, Green Lantern, and the Justice League of America) which in turn, created the "Silver Age of Comics". This period would also see the publication of rival companies such as Marvel Comics. In order to use the earlier characters, DC created two "universes"-- one for the current "Silver Age" characters and another for the "Golden Age" characters.

From the beginning of the "Silver Age" to the 1980's, DC characters' origins were changed, their histories altered, and new worlds were created. In 1985, the series Crisis on Infinite Earths attempted to straighten out all the discrepancies among the characters. There were no more multiple universes- there would be only one, streamlined history. This history would be different: Black Canary, instead of Wonder Woman, was a founding member of the Justice League (and all of the early Brave and the Bold and Justice League of America issues no longer "exist"). Also, the "Golden Age" characters existed in the 1940's, while the "Silver Age" characters exist "now". Characters such as Superman (historical) and Superboy no longer existed, characters such as Superman (modern) and Wonder Woman were "re-defined", and Kid Flash became Flash (3) for this "Modern Age of Comics." Although Crisis on Infinite Earths managed to sort out a number of problems, some "future" titles such as the Legion of Super-Heroes were still having problems. It was not until Zero Hour that DC finally (?) managed to straighten out the history of the universe. (Of course, this meant re-creating the Legion of Super-Heroes themselves which erased a 30 year history of characters and issues).

In the early 1990's, DC decided to radically change its characters:

• Superman was killed by Doomsday (Superman (2) #75) (and all  Superman titles were briefly cancelled), but was later brought back to life (with long hair!). (Superman (2) #82) A few years later, Clark Kent finally married Lois Lane (he had told her he was Superman a while back). (Action Comics #662) Additionally, Superman would lose his regular powers (in The Final Night storyline), but would later gain electical-based powers (with a blue and white costume!). (Superman (2) #123) He would also be split into two beings- Superman-Red and Superman-Blue. Eventually, Superman became one person again and returned to his familiar red, blue, and yellow costume.
• After fighting most of the villains in Arkham Ayslum, Batman had his back broken by Bane (Batman #492). During Bruce Wayne's absence, Azrael became the new, more violent Batman. (Batman #500) After a long recovery, Bruce would later return as the Batman. As time went on, Batman would once again face his enemy, Ra's al Ghul (as well as Bane) during the "Contagion" and "Legacy" storylines. The worst situation, though, was the near destruction of Gotham City during 1999's "No Man's Land" storyline.
• Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) become so overwhelmed with grief when his home town of Coast City was destroyed (during the "Reign of the Supermen" storyline) that he went "insane". Destroying the remaining Green Lantern Corps, killing a resurrected Sinestro, and taking all of the energy of the Main Power Battery, Hal would become the villain, Parallax. (Green Lantern (2) #50) And, in an attempt to "make things right" Hal tried to recreate the entire universe (in Zero Hour). A new Green Lantern was found by the last Guardian of the Universe: Kyle Rayner. (Green Lantern (2) #50) Kyle would later join the established heroes in forming a new Justice League- the new JLA. Even though Hal Jordan had been considered a villain, he gave his life re-igniting the sun (in The Final Night). Even though he was dead, Hal would return as the Spectre's new host. (Day of Judgment #5).

In 1998, DC Comics scored a "coup" in the comic book industry- they purchased Jim Lee's Wildstorm Studios. Jim Lee, who had been the "red-hot" artist on Marvel Comics' X-Men titles, and who had helped found Image Comics, would now have the backing of one of the comic book "giants." This would also mean that 1) Jim Lee would be doing some work for DC's major characters (such as Superman or Batman, perhaps), and 2) Wildstorm's titles (incluing Gen13 and a re-launch of Wildcats) would now be published by DC Comics.

And speaking of purchases, in January 2000, America Online purchased Time Warner... the parent company of DC Comics.

Let's skip ahead a few years to 2011: DC announces that all of its titles will reset their numbering to #1. This includes jettisoning years of history (Action Comics started in 1938 and recently passed issue #900). There are a number of reasons for this reset, but many online commenters suggest that DC is now trying to appeal to the new, casual reader who doesn't want to wade through 60-70 years of a character's backstory. Check out ComicsAlliance's article on All 52 New #1 Comics to read more about the re-vamped titles and their creative teams (link opens in new window).